In Illinois we are taking the power away from the Governor, too many of ours were pardoning each other. The last two are making really nice license plates. In the USA the President can grant a pardon for a federal crime. Governors grant for the crimes within their state. Liitle know fact most state pardons are granted after the person had already served his time.

...but no pardon shall be granted before conviction; and in cases of felony, after conviction no pardon shall be granted until the applicant therefor shall have published for thirty days, in some newspaper in the county where the crime was committed, and in case there be no newspaper published in said county, then in an adjoining county, his petition for pardon, setting forth therein the reasons why such pardon should be granted."

Apparently, Barbour didn't follow the law, and that's why the Democrat Attorney General is opposed...

Like ballenger says, most of the people Barbour pardoned were already OUT of prison.

The Governors of most states have the power to grant pardons or reprieves. In 9 states there is a pardon board that exclusively grant all state pardons.
In some states both the Governor and a board decides .

In Illinois we are taking the power away from the Governor, too many of ours were pardoning each other.

According to Barbour, "My decision about clemency was based upon the recommendation of the parole board in more than 90 percent of the cases. Some of those pardoned worked as trusty in the governor's mansion and it is a long time southern tradition to pardon those.

If one concentrates on what an inmate DID, NOBODY would get pardons... But, this isn't about that. They've DONE their time. They're already OUT. The public isn't in any danger because of the pardon. It just gives the convict a chance to get a job and maybe an apartment..

SOME felons need not apply if I am the one deciding . Some victims are forever victimized .

Edit

Turns out that most of the pardons bypassed the State Constitutional requirement of publishing a public notice for the request of clemency. This is an important requirement as it gives time for public comment . In the case I mentioned about the domestic abuse murder ,the guy shot another man who barely survived the encounter. That vicitim was blindsided by the pardon .Does he not have a right to comment prior ? If this was a parole case they would've given him the right to testify. The cold blooded murderer got the Governor's attention by serving the Governor his suppers.
That guy must've done one heck of a job waiting on Barbour's table !

I still haven't read up on the facts of those pardoned, but Barbour did respond...

Barbour told Fox News that any problem with paperwork was an accident on the part of corrections officials, who needed to send the notices out earlier to get them published in newspapers on time. But he defended the pardons.

"I understand and recognize that these families and had love ones who were the victims of terrible crimes ... and I sympathize with the fact that this hurts them, that they lost somebody like that and that they're not going to forget it and they want vengance," Barbour said on Fox News' "Special Report."

"But what the state does and has done ... most people in Mississippi are Christians or profess to be Christians, and we believe in forgiveness and we believe in second chances," he said.

Barbour told the Associated Press in an earlier interview that it's a tradition in Mississippi for governors to free the trusties who worked at the Governor's Mansion. Four inmates freed this past weekend are convicted killers who worked as trusties.

And the former governor said he's not concerned that the freed trusties might harm anyone. "I have absolute confidence, so much confidence, that I'd let my grandchildren play with these five men," the Republican said.

He said he regretted he did not more quickly explain that most of the people who received clemency were already out of prison and some had been for years.

"Let's get the facts straight. Of the 215 who received clemency, 189 were not let out of jail. They were already out of jail," Barbour told the AP.

Barbour said he didn't anticipate the pardons would become centered on politics, though he expected some backlash.

"What I didn't think was that politicians would go out and tell the public we let 200 people out of the penitentiary. I didn't anticipate this would be all about politics," said Barbour, who left office earlier this week.

Barbour can dismiss the procedures all he wants ;but he can't discount the fact that he showed less respect to the victims and their families than a routine parole hearing .

I'm not impressed that the qualifications for special release was that he had the murderers working for him as servants and got to know them . I'm sure there are many more deserving inmates in the system who pose less of a threat with their release .

If he was so sure that the people of Mississippi were so forgiving... and that there would be no political backlash ,then perhaps he should've pardoned them before he ran for reelection before his 1st term ended .

Yes there are surely others that can and probably should be released .I'd rather 1000 drug users released than a cold blooded killer .

By the way showing his forgiveness included the 9 people executed under his watch.

My husband was convicted of shoplifting in the early 90s and also of fraud (stealing someone's government check ). He received probation and had to pay restitution. No other criminal offenses since. These occurred in PEI Canada.
I was convicted of fraud(writing bad checks) and got probation...

When a person is convicted to a term of imprisonment with hard labour and on the course of serving his term the fellow is given a presidential pardon while the case still hang on him. Does a new government own the privilege to reign the same person to court on the same charges.